Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano Police Lt. Dan Mauel will take over as the department’s interim chief when Mark Kohl retires next month.
Mauel was named by the police and fire commission Tuesday after a lengthy closed session.
Kohl’s last day on the job will be April 3. He submitted his retirement letter to the city on Jan. 26.
The commission on Tuesday accepted the letter with some apparent reluctance, as commissioners seemed hesitant to make the motion.
“It’s a hard motion,” commission President Tony Zielinski said.
The motion was finally made and passed unanimously.
Zielinski said after the meeting that Mauel was a good fit for interim chief.
“Dan Mauel has been doing many of the responsibilities of the chief’s position,” he said. “He’s a direct connect to the chief currently. So it’s going to be maintaining what he’s been doing, with the additional ability to manage the department and have everybody answer to him.”
Mauel started with the Shawano Police Department in September 1980. He joined the Green Bay Police Department in 1985, but returned to his hometown department in March 1990. He was promoted to lieutenant in September 2002.
“I would like to thank the police and fire commission for having the confidence in me to lead the department during their search for our next police chief,” Mauel said.
Zielinski said the process for naming a permanent replacement was not yet in place.
“We’re going to decide on a process relative to replacing Mark Kohl,” he said. “That process will include interviewing internal and possibly some external candidates.”
Zielinski said he was sorry to see Kohl leave.
“It was with deep regret that we accepted his retirement letter,” he said. “Mark is sorely going to be missed. He’s an awesome person. He’s an incredible chief, and I wish him all the best in all of his endeavors from this point forward, and I’ll always consider him a personal friend.”
Kohl, 56, was Shawano police chief from January 2001 to August 2002, before becoming a criminal justice instructor at Fox Valley Technical College. He returned to the position after Ed Whealon retired in April 2014.
Kohl’s retirement letter to Mayor Jeanne Cronce was dated one day before the Shawano Common Council approved a settlement closing one of two sex discrimination suits filed against him. The other is scheduled for a jury trial in September.
Kohl, who was not at Tuesday’s meeting, has previously said the timing was coincidental, but that the suits were a factor in his decision to retire.
“It did play a part, but the decision to retire was made by my family prior to the resolution of the first lawsuit. The decision to retire was entirely and solely initiated by me and there was no implied or direct requests for me to do so,” Kohl said in an interview last month.
Kohl said department morale in light of the suits was also a serious concern.
“When employees read and hear their boss is being sued by two employees of the same department they proudly work for, it will affect morale if those rumors aren’t ended,” he said. “I knew the continual revisiting (of) the lawsuits in the media and community would play a price on employee morale and support of their leader.”
The city has denied the allegations made in both of the suits, and the settlement denied any wrongdoing by Kohl or the city.